Superpersonal
by kurgaya
Summary: IchiHitsu - oneshot - "Things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end, if not always in the way we expect." (J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)


**Notes:** Happy Halloween for those of you that celebrate it!

(23rd Nov - beta'd version added, with thanks to **Yellta**. Minimal grammar changes are the only difference)

* * *

**Superpersonal**

"Things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end, if not always in the way we expect."

- J.K. Rowling  
_Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_

* * *

"Hey, did I mention anxiety as a result of conflict?" Ichigo asked, stretching his body out before sitting up on the sofa, digging his elbows into the cushion supporting his back.

Tōshirō hummed from behind his desk, eyes scanning the piece of paper in his hands. His lips were pressed together in thought, his paperwork abandoned and his brush dripping ink onto the wood; he was completely absorbed in whatever he was reading, but Ichigo waited patiently for an answer anyway.

"Yes," it came, and the teenager let out a sigh in relief and flopped back. "You shouldn't doubt yourself," continued the taicho, peering over from the paper to watch as the substitute groped around on the floor for his cup of tea.

"I know," he concurred, deflating like a dog having realized he was chasing his own tail. "I can't help it though. I need to get good grades."

He did the 'kicked puppy' look well, Tōshirō noted, like the top level drama student he was. Ichigo wasn't planning on taking drama forward as a career (if he had he would be in Tokyo's drama school reciting lines, not burying himself six-foot under with exam preparation and imitating a stray every other day) but had chosen to take it forward into his education. Many of his teachers had been against the idea of taking a subject for 'fun' and not 'future' but the stubborn Kurosaki hadn't taken 'no' for an answer and managed to fit it into his timetable.

'Acting allowed him to be another person', he had argued. Sometimes that was all he wanted.

"You don't need to do anything," the taicho countered, giving the paper a last once-over before holding it out for his companion to take back. Ichigo huffed and scrambled up off of the sofa, blowing faintly into his tea as he shuffled across the room for his homework. Tōshirō fixed him with a stern glare as the work from torn from his grasp; "Take a break."

Ichigo snorted. "Look who's talking," he snickered, "You hoard paperwork like a man addicted to cigarettes."

"It's not my fault," Tōshirō retaliated, expression strained at the mere suggestion that he _enjoyed_ spending all of his time hiking his to-do list.

The teen immersed himself back down with the expression of a man not prepared to ever move again. "My point exactly." He smirked over in the direction of his boyfriend knowingly, momentarily catching Tōshirō's ever-present frown before their attention was turned to a knock at the door.

"Come in," said the taicho as Ichigo chuckled to himself. The teen ignored the officer as he slipped inside and bowed deeply, focusing on filing away his psychology essay reformed and revamped with Tōshirō's tiny handwriting.

"Sir," said the newcomer, all stutter and blush. "A message for you from the captain-commander."

_First division_, thought Ichigo, listening in like a fly on the wall. _No wonder he's terrified._

Tōshirō made a supplement motion with his hand, glaring at Ichigo out of the corner of his eye. Ichigo snapped his gaze back down onto his work, biting his cheek to stop himself from smiling.

"He wishes for you to be part of the patrol group tomorrow night," explained the officer. "And Kurosaki-san - " He nodded at the man who perked up at his name. " - can join you."

"He took me into account for once?" Ichigo asked once the man was dismissed, wonder lifting his features. "I thought he did his best to ignore me."

"You'd only come along anyway," replied the taicho, his tone flat and unamused. "You _are_ pretty good at that."

"That makes me sound like a dog."

'Your point being?' said Tōshirō's eyebrows.

Despite scowling, Ichigo couldn't find any proof to reason a complaint. "Alright, alright, cut me some slack. What patrol did the old man mean anyway? I thought you got a week's notice before going on missions?"

Tōshirō actually looked mildly impressed at that. Ichigo could understand - most of the time, Seireitei's politics and functions went over his head, but recently he had been trying to learn the mechanics behind the thirteen court guards. When he wasn't in the human world, visiting Renji and Rukia, or spending time in the tenth, Ichigo sat with Ukitake and/or Kyoraku and had a history lesson - generally only a few times a month, but enough that Ichigo could freely say he wasn't ignorant any more.

"This is the Halloween patrol," said Tōshirō, as if that _wasn't_ implying a host of long-dead warriors went around trick-or-treating like five year-olds. "I haven't taken part in years, so I guess it's my turn." He shrugged with indifference and started reading through his next load of paperwork; Ichigo quietly sipped his tea at the other end of the room.

"So you what? Put sheets over your head and pretend to be ghosts? I hate to break it to you Tōsh, but you already _are_ a ghost."

"_No_," the other stressed seriously, pointing his brush at Ichigo and stabbing the air with it.

"Ah come on," Ichigo interrupted, trying to lighten the mood. "You can't deny the image of Byakuya walking around wearing a sheet isn't funny. I'd draw a huge smiley face on it just to piss him off."

Tōshirō exhaled loudly and shook his head in dismay. "Don't let Kuchiki-taicho hear you say that," he muttered, which meant to Ichigo, that he had in fact enjoyed the mental image provided. "But Halloween isn't all about sweets and pranks - humans may enjoy that, but we have a job to do. Halloween is the night the barrier between the living and the dead is weakest, so we have to be on our guard."

Sobering up, Ichigo sat forward in interest. "Is that actually true?"

"Hmm," Tōshirō confirmed. "It's an advantage for us, in a sense, because pluses that have been given a burial can get to Soul Society quicker, but the reverse is also true. Spirits in Rukongai are entrusted with the liberty to return to the human world for one night to visit family or friends - they have to be _called_ first, mind, and the summoning doesn't always work, so it's usually down to pot-luck. Either way, with so many spirits running around, Hollows are almost twice as active as any other night, so part of our duty is to grant safe passage to all those involved."

"What, seriously?"

He had grown up a spiritually aware child, how had he not known this? Hollows and shinigami had been unknown to him until Rukia had ventured into his bedroom, but pluses, 'ghosts', had been with him his whole life. At times they were annoying, arrogant, and as indecisive as a puppy, and while they had been a perpetual reminder that he wasn't entirely normal, they represented a companionship so he actively sought them out. How he had never heeded that there were more ghosts around on Halloween was a mystery. Perhaps he had just never put the dots together.

Tōshirō nodded. "Humans become more spiritually aware too," he added. "There are more 'ghost' sightings on Halloween than the rest of the year put together - shinigami get noticed more too, though we get passed off as human until someone spots us shunpoing or the like."

"Wow," Ichigo breathed. "So who's in the patrol then?"

Finally putting his brush back into the inkpot, the taicho starting stacking up his papers. Obviously he had decided there was no use in enduring his work load, as their conversation was dragging on. It was rapidly growing dark outside anyway, so he would no doubt be turning in not before long. "A couple of taicho and fukutaicho are sent out each year," he began, glimpsing over and seeing Ichigo following his example and packing away his possessions. "As you easily make up for a taicho, I'm assuming it may just be the pair of us and some fukutaicho. As to who, I don't know, sorry."

"Ah don't apologize," said Ichigo as he made his way over. He placed his empty teacup on the blue tray on the edge of Tōshirō's desk - the remains of their dinner were still evident, but Ichigo knew that some of the kitchen staff would come and clean it away later. That was one of the perks of being a taicho - you weren't expected to eat in the canteen with the rest of the division and so could nip into the kitchen and take something away. "We'll find out tomorrow, yeah?"

"I suppose," Tōshirō agreed, watching the other stuff his work into a bag. "I guess this is goodnight, then."

Raising his head, Ichigo almost looked taken-aback. It was only for a fleeting of a second though, a breathless expression smoothing onto his face to replace it. "So I can't - ?"

The taicho shifted uneasily, averting his eyes.

Ichigo felt his disappointment melt into empathy. "It's okay," he assured, knowing what the other was thinking. "Like I keep saying, I can wait, I don't mind. You know I don't want to pressure you."

"You're not pressuring me," Tōshirō confirmed quickly, making his partner smile. "I'm just - "

_Not usually this bad with words_, Ichigo thought, finishing the end of Tōshirō's halted sentence in his head. "Relax, I'm a patient guy," he said cheerfully. And he was. They hadn't been in a relationship for incredibly long - four months and five days, but who was counting? - and he had expected things to not run along the tracks as smooth as he hoped. That was just who they were. He wanted things to be special (he really, really,_really_ liked Tōshirō) and the genius taicho was unsure with himself, so put them both together and abracadabra! They hadn't even slept in the same room yet!

"And anyway," he went on. "Molesting you in your sleep isn't my topmost priority - second maybe, yeah, but not first."

His cheeky efforts paid off when Tōshirō huffed, rolling in eyes in amusement. "I don't know why I put up with you."

"Me neither," chirped Ichigo, grinning like the Cheshire cat. "But I'm glad you do."

He got a swift kiss on the cheek for that.

Yeah, he could live with sleeping in his own bed for a little longer.

* * *

They agreed to meet at six the next night, and assemble with the rest of the patrol before the human world grew dark. Ichigo had informed his family and friends that he would be spending the majority of the half term in Soul Society, and he didn't trick or treat with them so he wasn't missing a great deal. Orihime tried to drag them out every year, arguing that seventeen was not too old for dressing up and collecting sweets, but Ichigo generally managed to successfully escape her plans by coming up with some lie that pardoned him to stay at home. With thoughts on whether or not they would encounter her during their watch tonight, the substitute gradually made his way towards the tenth division. Tōshirō would, no doubt, already knew he was approaching, his immense spiritual energy a beacon that screamed _'I'm here!'_ to just about every soul dwelling in the Seireitei, but working at his desk the taicho would be nevertheless. Ichigo wondered if Matsumoto actually did _any_ work around the division, but he supposed she must upkeep all of her others duties (whatever they were) so that a red flag didn't fly in the captain-commander's mind.

A pair of gruff guards greeted him at the gates, nodding in acceptance of his ever-present subsistence in their proximity, and he smiled back with a little wave. The first snorted so hard that the other jumped with a grunt, and Ichigo assumed that the second must have been half-asleep at his post to cause such a reaction. Not paying it much mind, the guards swapped at sun-down after all, and Tōshirō was perfectly capable of handling anything that came his way.

_Except me._

_Whoa, whoa, whoa_, screamed his mind. _Slow down hotshot. And take that back._

He laughed to the empty corridor. So yeah, it was probably rather accurate; Tōshirō truthfully didn't know quite what to do with him, but Ichigo didn't know what to do with himself half the time so it didn't matter terribly... Okay, that likened their relationship to a teenager's first baby-sitting experience, but that was beside the point. Things between them weren't as simple as... well... everything else, and relationships weren't meant to be effortless anyway, so Disney movies could stop decimating his life and start facing reality. Falling in love was the first part, acting on those feelings was the second. And hey, if you were lucky enough to have someone willing to try a partnership with you, then good for you!

Then came the hard part, and was he getting side-tracked?

Tōshirō coughed from his desk, and Ichigo jolted as his brain fell down from the clouds. "Welcome back," said the taicho, and the substitute had to glance around with his mouth hanging open for a moment to realize that he had walked all the way to his boyfriend's office without noticing.

"Tōshirō," he said grinning, sliding the door shut. "Hi."

"Is something bothering you?" asked the other, lifting up his work to quickly blow it dry. His sharp teal eyes fixed on Ichigo's face, however, and the ginger found himself stuttering under the stare.

"No, no," he stammered. "Nothing's wrong - just thinking."

Seeming appeased with that answer, Tōshirō looked away to tie the paper down with the rest of the stack. As he was making the knot, Ichigo settled himself down onto the sofa, kicking his feet up onto one of the arms and throwing a pillow across the room when it dug into his back.

"Just don't let your guard down like that on patrol," Tōshirō added eventually, his chair scraping against the floorboards when he stood. Calling a hell butterfly to his finger with a tiny pulse of spiritual energy, he directed an officer to come and collect the work from him, and then retrieved Hyorinmaru from its place against the wall.

Ichigo blinked at the advice, and then smiled with a giddy feeling bubbling inside of his gut. He didn't say anything out loud, but it was unmistakable that Tōshirō was expressing worry for him. It flattered him - most people felt his monstrous spiritual energy and assumed he could take care of himself; even his family and friends sometimes took a back-seat. But for someone to openly, though discretely, show care and concern over his well-being, and for that person to be Tōshirō Hitsugaya of all people...

"Are you coming or not?" Tōshirō urged, with arms folded and back against the doorway. Still grinning like an idiot, Ichigo jumped to his feet and followed him out. He felt like Christmas had come early, and it must have been evident in his spiritual energy for, without even looking, Tōshirō huffed and said, "You're making a fool of yourself."

"Nah," he said, shaking his head. "Your division is used to me. I'm already part of the gang."

Scoffing at 'gang', Tōshirō rolled his eyes. "You obviously spend far too much time here."

"You think so?" Ichigo asked innocently, winking down at his companion. "I think you'll just have to live with it."

Tōshirō shook his head in dismay, brutally losing the argument, and Ichigo tangled his hand up in his white hair and ruffled it up. He dived out of the way of a slap, laughing, and then stuck his tongue out. "What are you, a girl?" he teased, chuckling at the way Tōshirō's face clenched with indignation. "You hit like my sister!"

He shunpoed away, his laugh bellowing down the corridor, and Tōshirō took one long, deep breath, before smirking and shunpoing out after him.

They arrived at the designated meeting point a few minutes later, Tōshirō landing first with the grace of a cat and the silence of a mouse, completely composed in front of the fukutaicho. Ichigo materialized half a second later supporting a manic smile, seized his partner around the waist and then shunpoed away again. Tōshirō's squawk of outrage made the fukutaicho start in surprise.

"What the hell?" Renji spluttered, sharing awed glances with Shuuhei; Nanao just pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose with a resigned sigh.

"I think it's called flirting," she said with a neutral expression on her face.

"WHAT?" roared Renji, almost drowning out Shuuhei's confused, "You already knew about it?"

Shooting the sixth division fukutaicho a glare to _lower the volume please_, Nanao answered in a disinterested fashion. "Of course. How do you think it would have escaped Rangiku's notice? Kurosaki-san spends nearly all of his time in Soul Society in the tenth; the whole of the division's probably aware."

"Well he didn't tell me anything about it," Renji mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. He tapped his foot impatiently on the ground and then yelled, "Oi Ichigo! We're waiting for you!" to which the man in question appeared after a moment's pause, red-faced and chuckling, the tenth division taicho swung over his left shoulder.

The fukutaicho _stared_.

"Let's go then!" Ichigo said cheerfully, and Tōshirō kicked him in the stomach.

"Put me down Kurosaki," he hissed. "Or I _will_ freeze your hands off."

"Yeah, yeah," dismissed the ginger, barely phased by the threat. "God you're no fun." He put the taicho down carefully, treating his pale skin and tiny features like glass. Renji coughed awkwardly at the loving display, and the pair looked over at the trio of fukutaicho with enlightenment on their faces.

"Abarai," Tōshirō greeted, his honour slipping off as he brushed himself down. Ise-fukutaicho, Hisagi-fukutaicho."

"Sir," said the latter two, Renji unable to look the minute taicho in the face.

"Is this all of us then?" Ichigo butted in, diverting the conversation from making any assumptions about their behaviour. He did think that maybe he'd gone a little bit too far just now, but Tōshirō hadn't called out Hyorinmaru for redemption, so he figured he was safe for the moment.

"Yes," said Nanao. "The gate's set to open at twenty past." As she said this, the giant doors of the senkaimon opened before them, a blinding beam of white light pouring out like water gushing over a fall. Five hell butterflies appeared to grant them safe passage, each fluttering over to one of the shinigami; Ichigo's landed on his head and nestled itself down.

"Typical," he grumbled. Nobody quite knew what to say to that, their own butterflies swooping around their heads, so Tōshirō moved them on with an inclination of his head and a step through the senkaimon.

This patrol was going to be a blast, Ichigo could already tell.

* * *

Halloween was in its primitive stages when they arrived - the sun was still peeking over the horizon so only the youngest of trick-or-treaters were wandering the streets. It was a chilly night as they found, standing miles above the town center with the wind battering against their bodies, but it didn't look like it was going to rain. That would make their job five times as hard - there would be fewer humans to protect, yes, but the spirit-visiting hours didn't stop, no matter the weather.

"Hisgai-fukutaicho, Ise-fukutaicho," Tōshirō began, nodding at the two officers. "I want you to patrol north and west Karakura respectively - Abarai, you are to act as a go-between. You are to be wherever the Hollow levels are highest." They nodded at his words and, sensing the dismissal in them, shunpoed away, though Renji did wiggle his eyebrows suggestively in Ichigo's direction before he vanished, however, but Ichigo was too slow in flipping him the middle finger for the red-head to notice. "Kurosaki - " Tōshirō turned to the waiting shinigami. "You and I have east and south Karakura. The Hollow will be drawn to us so we shouldn't need to split up, but if we do then you are to keep watch over the river and the residential houses near there, while I take the rest. Understood?"

Ichigo saluted him with a mock, "_Aye, aye cap~tain_," spoken in what appeared to be an exceptional fluency of English. Tōshirō briefly wondered if Ichigo had just picked up that English phrase from somewhere, or did in fact know a second language, as the saucy grin on his boyfriend's face was revealing no clues as to where his knowledge had originated from. Concluding that it wasn't worth his time, the taicho shunpoed down into the housing estate below them, his sudden appearance whipping up a storm of leaves and making a couple of girls dressed as animals squeal.

"Woops," Ichigo muttered when he did the same, but the girls just laughed it off, one of them replying with, "Happy Halloween Mr. Ghosts!"

Ichigo had to grab his jaw to stop it from falling off. "I did tell you that people are more spiritually aware tonight," Tōshirō informed him, his smug tone chiming 'I told you so'.

"But they weren't even scared!" the ginger argued as they started to make their way down the street. "We just shunpoed practically _right on top of them_ and they didn't even _scream_."

Still not discomforted with the conversation, the taicho shrugged. "Many humans are used to shinigami on Halloween night - the children grow up hearing stories about us, so they've no reason to be afraid."

"Oh," said Ichigo, his face falling. "I guess that's why I had never heard of you until Rukia then?"

Not understanding what he meant, Tōshirō kept quiet.

"Dad never celebrated Halloween," Ichigo supplied, either picking up on Tōshirō's confusion, or taking it as a cue to continue. "And I never really trick-or-treated that much - when Inoue-san could drag me out, I'd go, but I didn't really like it." He laughed. "I must have been the _only kid_ in my whole year group who didn't like it!"

A small group of babbling children rounded the corner before them, chatting excitedly and holding a neon orange bucket of sweets between them. They walked past the two shinigami without even blinking, though, only the mother glanced over in their direction. She smiled, and then asked the group where they were headed next.

"Their teeth are going to_rot_," Tōshirō sighed, having caught a glimpse of the contents of the bucket.

"**Yeeeesss**," agreed a voice, and the shinigami looked upwards to see a Hollow gazing down at them from atop a nearby roof. It resembled a two-toned umbrella folded the wrong way, spiny and crocked with large flaps of skin peeling away from its bones. Its mask was oblong and in the shape of a brick, and it probably did as much damage as it looked like it would. "**Chiiiildreen, eeeaatt, yeeesssss**."

The shinigami shared a look. 'Go ahead' shrugged Tōshirō, and Ichigo shunpoed up to the Hollow, his spiritual energy rising as Zangetsu was drawn from his sheath. It snarled and leapt away at the last available second, its filthy claws ripping tiles off of every roof it landed on, and as it spit and spat vile words and gruesome threats, large, sticky blobs of saliva dribbled down its jaw.

Ichigo cut its head off in one swing.

"Stupid thing," he grumbled, disappointed at the fight it put up. Zangetsu was pulsing now, adrenaline pumping through Ichigo's veins, and the shinigami whirled around to scour the area for something more of a challenge. Tōshirō had said the Hollows would be attracted to them. Well, he supposed he should make himself a target then. Spiking his spiritual energy high, Ichigo tightened his grip around Zangetsu's hilt and prepared himself for an onslaught. Two Hollow promptly emerged, squeezing into the walled street at opposite ends; Tōshirō stood calmly between them, one eyebrow raised up in his partner's direction.

"You go find some kids to terrorize!" Ichigo called down to him, more Hollows sniffing out his presence like hounds. "I'll take care of stuff round here!"

Tōshirō could have mumbled something under his breath in reply, but Ichigo was too far away to hear. His frosty boyfriend did shunpo away though, startling one of the Hollow into giving chase, but the substitute was onto it before it could even leave the street, wielding Zangetsu with a professional ease. It was a shame he couldn't Getsuga Tensho them all, but restricting himself to basic combat would be more fun anyway, he thought as he flared his spiritual energy one last time before retracting it down and posing himself to strike.

They charged as one snarling mass of hatred, bone white masks revealing yellow eyes and crocodile teeth. Ichigo ducked under the first swipe, spun one hundred and eighty degrees and blocked the second with the flat of his zanpakuto, pushing it away before spinning back around and slicing anything within a four foot radius. It seemed to do the trick; the Hollows around him roared in anger, so he jumped forward and cut his way right through the middle of one while it was distracted, clutching the stump of its arm and wailing in pain.

Having never encountered a Hollow that ran away, he wasn't surprised when their ally's death only fuelled their desire to rip him to pieces. But Hollow were all the same, he found; egotistical and single-minded creatures, so they all met redemption at the end of his blade. Pleased with his work, Ichigo sheathed Zangetsu and scouted out Tōshirō's spiritual energy, locating it seconds later a few blocks away. It was fluctuating slightly under its limiter, suggesting that the taicho was engaged in his own fight, so Ichigo made haste in his direction, if only to keep an eye out. They were both perfectly capable of handling a few low level Hollow, so Ichigo didn't draw his zanpakuto as he shunpoed over the roof tops, and the evidence of this was clear when he arrived next to his partner, the street rid of any dark infestations.

"That was _so cool_, mister!"

Ichigo startled, discerning the children hiding behind a lamp post a few meters away. One of them was dressed as a ghost, though he had lifted up the sheet to get a finer view of the fray, and the other, the one who had spoken, appeared to be the stereotypical _grim reaper_, equipped with a hooded robe and cardboard scythe. They didn't come across as victims of a Hollow attack, so Ichigo guessed that either Tōshirō had intervened before things had turned sour, or the duo were one of _those types_ of boys that found gruesome and potentially fatal experiences morbidly fascinating. Judging by the expressions of _pure awe_ on their faces, Ichigo would bet his money on the latter.

"Thank you," Tōshirō replied, smiling in a way that reflected his uncertainty of children. "Don't poke the ten foot monster with a cut-out scythe next time, it's not a dog."

"And don't poke dogs either!" Ichigo added as they scampered away, the grim reaper waving his scythe around in what was probably meant to be an imitation of Tōshirō. "Got yourself some admirers?" he teased, grinning at the vexed taicho. Tōshirō crossed his arms and sighed, staring in the direction the children had wandered.

"They seemed to think a Hollow was something to laugh at," he explained, guardedly ignoring the 'admirers' comment. "I don't understand children."

"Come on," Ichigo said, tugging on the other's sleeve and pulling him along. They walked down the street and into an alleyway, slipping through without a sound; it opened up into a larger residential area with a green in the middle and the houses all facing inward. One of them was lit up in neon orange and purple lights, and another, scattered with pumpkins of all sizes, and the parents of the manic children watched from open doorways, arms loaded with dozens of sweets. "They won't be innocent all their lives you know, let them have their fun for a bit. We'll be here to keep them safe, yeah?"

Tōshirō hummed in agreement. "I - " He was cut off by one of their mobiles ringing with an incoming message; Ichigo raised an eyebrow as he fished it out of his pocket. "It's Abarai," he said, flipping open the phone and holding it to his ear. Ichigo rolled his eyes but stayed silent as Tōshirō greeted the fukutaicho on the other end. Their conversation lasted only seconds, but a cloud of thoughtfulness had settled over the taicho's face by the end of it. "The first of the souls from Rukongai are coming through," he announced, putting away the mobile.

"Already?" Ichigo asked. "Do we have to go and meet them or something?"

Nodding an affirmative, he made a 'follow me' gesture with his hand and shunpoed out of the street. The three fukutaicho were waiting for them on the high school roof, Renji still with his own mobile clutched in his hands, and Shuuhei and Nanao talking against the fence. Of all the places Ichigo had been, visiting the school at night was still one of the eeriest. Normally it was light and full of energy, students filling the corridors or running track out on the back field, so it being the opposite was unnerving, unnatural. The four official officers didn't look disturbed in the slightest, though. Ichigo supposed they had seen worse things than an empty school building.

"So what are we waiting for?" he queried after the greetings went around. "Will they all come through in mass or something?"

"Nah," said Renji. "That'd be chaotic. But they do gather here and wait for us to guide them."

"Eh?" went Ichigo, dubious that he was hearing this correctly. "We have to take them _one by one_ to - ?"

"Pretty much," cut in Shuuhei, rolling his shoulders back and stretching. Beside him Nanao didn't look very pleased with this prospect either, but she hid it better than her fellow fukutaicho. She wasn't one for complaining anyway, unless it was about her taicho's lazy habits and flirtatious attitude of course. Ichigo huffed at this information but he knew he had to put up with it; he hadn't been ordered on this assignment anyway, and Tōshirō would probably let him back out if he wanted to. He wouldn't though; he knew Tōshirō well enough to know that the taicho wouldn't pester Soul Society for another taicho to take his place, and instead take the work load onto himself to keep everybody else happy.

Nothing particularly spectacular happened when the first of the spirits arrived from Soul Society - she just sort of materialized in the space between them, hands clasped by her stomach and an expression of complete astoundment on her face. She was probably middle-aged, her fine hair tied up in a bun to hide the few greys starting to form, so Ichigo made the snap judgement that she was a mother, or had been, and it was her children that she desired to visit.

"Hi," he said lamely, gauging her reaction to see if she was excited or terrified.

"Ichigo's just volunteered himself for the first run," Renji mumbled, and the spirit laughed.

"Hi," she said, echoing the ginger. "I've never done this before, so forgive me if I do it wrong."

"Ditto," Ichigo replied with a smile. "So if we end up in Tokyo, it's not my fault."

The mixture of grins and blank looks he received from his companions and the other spirits appearing around them, told Ichigo two things. One, that he was going to be good at this, and two, that he was blatantly flirting. Blushing and rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, his grin widened to mirror that of Renji's, and he muttered, "Sorry," to the group in general.

"Nah, don't be," chimed a young girl, springing forward and latching onto Ichigo's arm. "I did this last year too, and the guides then were _grumpy_."

"Ouch," said Ichigo sympathetically, thinking '_Byakuya_', and he eased himself out of her grip. She didn't seem to notice, her attention diverted by Nanao calling her over. There was probably about a dozen spirits on the school roof now, and while Ichigo had been chatting with the middle-aged mother, Tōshirō had been organizing them into small groups, each assigned to a different shinigami. Briefly, Ichigo wondered how the whole procedure was going to work - if they were all out delivering souls, then who was going to round up any newcomers? - but after five minutes passed with the taicho giving out orders, he realized that there were no more spirits appearing.

"Soul Society has control over who goes through and when," Shuuhei rationalized, catching Ichigo's bemused look and registering what was going through his mind. "So that they don't overload us. If they all came through at once, we wouldn't be able to keep them safe." He nodded his head to the groups, each consisting of three nervous looking entities. "Four groups of three with one left over. That way one person can continue keeping the Hollow population under control."

Ichigo's mouth formed an 'o' of understanding. That made sense, though having to patrol the whole town for Hollows was bit much of an ask for one person, he thought, but Tōshirō's earlier words came back to him and he remembered that the Hollows would be attracted to the guides as well, so he supposed it wasn't really the whole population. Still, it was a huge responsibility, and Ichigo didn't have any doubt as to who would be assigned the job.

"Kurosaki," Tōshirō called, and both Ichigo and Shuuhei turned to show their attention. "Your group."

"Right," said the substitute, taking in the three people he was charged with looking after. One was the women he had been talking to, and the other two were males; the closest was but a child, podgy with baby-fat with a disarray of curly bronze locks, and the second was an older guy, but probably only a few years Ichigo's senior. Renji and Nanao were both talking to their groups, and Tōshirō was introducing Shuuhei to his, but Ichigo just stood there gracelessly with the three spirits seemingly waiting for him to say something.

Sensing his distress, Tōshirō came to the rescue by stepping into the circle and handing each of them a small contraption that looked oddly like -

"A sweet?" said the child, holding it up to eye level.

"Yori, don't eat it," advised the woman with a tone distinct to mothers.

"I wasn't gonna eat it," Yori argued, pouting. "I'm not as stupid as Daiki." He stuck his tongue out triumphantly at the other male spirit. The man, who Ichigo now knew was called Daiki, sighed heavily and flicked the kid on the forehead, expression wholly neutral, but Ichigo took the gesture as one of brotherly-love, and not of real irritant.

"Keep these on you," added Tōshirō sternly, rolling his eyes at the display. "They'll give you some protection from Hollows. Kurosaki - " he continued, as the spirits tried to find pockets to put the device into. "Once they're at their location you can leave them - they'll make their own way back to Soul Society."

"Uh-huh," said Ichigo, slipping his own device away. "How do I know where to take them?"

"They already know, just ask."

"Riiight," he replied, hesitant. He glanced over at the trio; the two troublemakers and the peace-keeper, before nodding at his boyfriend. "I suppose we better get started then?"

* * *

Knocking on the door of the house belonging to Yori's parents had been awkward, to say the least. Daiki had just thanked him, albeit grudgingly, and made his own way home, but in the short space of time from the school roof to the spirit's destination, Ichigo had learnt that reluctance was just Daiki's general personality, so hadn't taken any offence. Yori, on the other hand, was now hiding behind the substitute's legs and refusing to enter his home alone, suddenly very nervous about the whole ordeal. Mai, the mother-like woman, had assured Ichigo that behaviour like that was normal, especially for 'youngsters' as she had called them, so Ichigo had taken the child's hand and led him up to the front door, knocked, and then squeezed the sweaty palm against his own in comfort.

Never before had he felt so out of place.

Well, until Yori's mum had opened the door, shrieked, been practically run over by her son, started crying, and then sobbed her gratitude into the boy's hair, that is. He stuttered out a 'you're welcome' while taking in the scene, his heart clenching painfully at Yori's gasped 'mum' that tumbled out of his mouth again and again and again, but it wasn't until the mother in question reached forward and pulled him into the hug as well that Ichigo realized why he had the compelling desire to be anywhere but _there_ at that very moment.

He wished, more than anything, that he could be in Yori's place right now, and that the person stroking his hair and holding him tight was his own mother, and that thought made him feel very, very selfish.

"Come on," Mai whispered, laying a hand on his shoulder. Yori was ushered inside by his mother to greet the rest of his family, so Ichigo nodded at the spirit's words and turned away. The front door clicked shut behind them, but Ichigo had already taken Mai's hand in his and shunpoed them to their next destination, a house only a few blocks away. He let her gain her footing again for a moment, taking in the site of the small detached house before them while he waited. It was an ordinary building in an ordinary street, but he supposed to Mai it meant everything in the world.

_Argh, he was depressing himself._

"Alright then, I gotta go," he said dismissively, shoving his hands into his pockets. Mai smiled and then kissed him on the cheek; he blushed brightly, staring at her in wonder.

"Don't stay up too late," she advised, giving his shoulder a pat.

He waited until she was safely home before snorting, shaking his head in bemusement. "Mums are weird," he mumbled to himself, rummaging through his pockets for his mobile. Pulling it out he unlocked it, pressing two on his speed-dial to call Tōshirō. Undoubtedly there was abundance more spirits waiting to come through, so why he was calling the taicho for a confirmation he wasn't sure. And he was perfectly competent enough to make his own decisions, and use his own initiative, so he didn't need Tōshirō to tell him what to do...

"_Kurosaki?_" came his boyfriend's voice down the phone, a concerned tint making it rise at the end.

"Hey Tōshirō," he said automatically. "Err..." And then he didn't know what to say. What could he? 'Oh, I just wanted to talk because I've upset myself thinking of my mum and I need someone to kick me back into shape'? No, he didn't think so.

Tōshirō sighed at the other end of the line. "_It's going to be a long night_," he said, and Ichigo could hear the message lying underneath his words. Tōshirō didn't ask what was bothering the substitute, though Ichigo's silence indicated such, and instead went on about the spirits, the town, and anything and everything that didn't include what Ichigo couldn't bring himself to say. Ichigo was glad for that small comfort, yet he wished he could read Tōshirō as well as Tōshirō could read him. _"Come back to the school whenever you're ready. I've got a barrier set up to keep the Hollow out, but there are a lot of them prowling - "_

The line went dead.

Ichigo retracted the phone from his ear, stared at it for a moment, and then re-dialed Tōshirō's number. It went straight to voice mail and Ichigo swore loudly at the twelfth division for discovering that such a thing existed. He shoved the phone into his pocket and brought Zangetsu around from his back, shunpoing through the town as the white cloth unwrapped to free the blade. His first frantic thought was that it was a false alarm - maybe someone had distracted Tōshirō, or he'd lost signal or it was something totally not life-threatening that he didn't need to be worrying about.

But he knew better than that.

The school roof came into view within half a minute, but the darkness shrouded his perception on what was going on. His other senses were more than capable of fathoming the situation though; he could hear spirits screaming, hurried footsteps along the concrete, and the roars of two - no, three - Hollows echoing through the empty building. He felt Tōshirō's Hollow barrier splutter and crumble as he ploughed through it; it fizzled against his skin and flashed once in a blinding green light, illuminating the bloody scene before him. Most of the spirits from Rukongai were lined up against the fence, Tōshirō standing between them and three Hollow, his uniform ripped and his shoulder gushing blood. However there were two others by the stairs, a snake-like Hollow coiled around them to prevent them from running; one was probably a teenager but Ichigo couldn't make him out, for the other ghost, a ginger haired woman, was covering his body with her own. Amending her bravery he landed in the middle of the fight, zanpakuto raised and a command on the edge of his tongue; the three Hollow crowding Tōshirō turned at his appearance, and the icy taicho took the distraction to cut right through one as the other two fell to Ichigo's well-aimed Getsuga Tensho.

"You alright?" he called, his words ending in a grunt as his boyfriend shoved him out of the way of the last Hollow's rapid strike. A couple of the spirits screamed in terror as the Hollow slammed into the fence, and they scattered to the other side of the roof.

"Never better," replied Tōshirō flatly, as the Hollow twisted and convulsed, spitting venom and hissing curses. He shunpoed forward and sliced it in half before it could do anymore damage, sheathing Hyorinmaru and spinning around in one fluid motion. "You?"

"Dandy," grumbled Ichigo from his position on the ground. "A bit of warning next time?"

"Learn to dodge," advised the taicho, tentatively poking his wound. The whole right side of his haori was stained a deep scarlet, blood dripping down his sleeve and leg, and he hissed in pain as he pealed back his uniform to inspect the state of his shoulder.

"Like you can talk," retorted Ichigo, raising his eyebrows at the injury. Heaving himself up, he also sheathed his zanpakuto, stretching his arms up above his head and scanning the roof for the frightened spirits. The ones hiding by the stairs were approaching like cautious mice, but it was the two that had been herded by the Hollow that he was most worried about. Glancing over in Tōshirō's direction to see him mending his shoulder with healing kido, Ichigo made his way over to the woman and teen, all intents and purposes to give them the once over. "Hey," he said openly. He laid a hand on the woman's shoulder and opened his mouth to ask her if she was injured, but the words died in his throat as his heart leapt up to replace them.

Masaki Kurosaki was staring back at him.

"_Mum_," he breathed, hand frozen to her shoulder. She smiled and brought one of her hands up to lift his away, but instead of letting it drop back down she kept a hold of it between her own, transparent against a sweaty red.

"Hello Ichigo," she greeted warmly. That was all the confirmation he needed to pull her into a hug, burying his shocked face into her neck. Masaki laughed softly and patted his back, her hands delicate but firm at the same time; hesitant to touch but never wanting to let go. "How you've grown."

"Is it really you?" he murmured, hopeful.

She went to push him away, to hold him at arms' length and let him see her smile, but he held on tight and refused to let go. Sighing at this, she moved her hands up to stroke his hair, a gesture she knew he liked as a child. "Yes dear," she said. "It's really me. Aren't you going to introduce me?"

That made him take a step back, puzzlement clouding his distressed features. "Huh?" he said unintelligibly, and Masaki chuckled at the display.

"You're on familiar terms with a taicho," she hinted, eyes darting over to look expectantly at Tōshirō. He was watching the exchange with an unsettled expression, but when he noticed her gaze he quickly averted his eyes, returning to concentrating on the waiting spirits. "A very cute taicho."

"_Mum!_" Ichigo stressed, blushing. His argument was halted by a very Yuzu-like look, one that expressed that she knew _exactly_ what he were talking about. "...That's Tōshirō..." he revealed, sounding mortified. "How'd you - ?"

"A mother _always_ knows," Masaki interrupted, squeezing his hand. "Still, I think there's a lot we need to talk about."

She traced the edge of his sleeve with a frown, running the fabric through her fingers.

"Yeah," agreed Ichigo, eyebrows falling together. "I'll explain on the way home."

The smile that lit up her face calmed Ichigo's raging heart.

* * *

Tōshirō said nothing about Ichigo ditching the remainder of his duties that evening. In fact, it wasn't until Karin and Yuzu had been asleep for many hours, curled up on the floor under a blanket, that Ichigo realized Tōshirō hadn't said anything at all.

And that was because he was still outside, working through night while the Kurosakis wept and laughed and immersed themselves in the feeling of finally being a family again.

"Ichigo?" Masaki whispered, her hushed conversation with her husband breaking off when she noticed her son stirring on the sofa. Their gazes followed his movements as he lifted his sleeping limbs into a standing position, and their faces mellowed with realization when he turned a sorrowful expression in their direction.

"I need to go," he said, stepping carefully around his sisters. "I - "

_I've left Tōshirō out on his own. He should be here. He's family. I need to go and make it up to him._

Masaki smiled knowingly. Isshin just rolled his eyes and pointed sharply at the front door with his thumb. Ichigo kissed his mum on the cheek, hugged her one last time, and then slipped out of the house, his spiritual energy reaching for Tōshirō's. The prodigy was by the field where Karin liked to play football, lying on his back with his head resting on his arms when Ichigo approached, as silently as possible to minimalize disturbance. It was an inevitable move on his part, but Tōshirō didn't react to his presence until they were laying side by side, the moon above them large and full.

"I thought you'd be with your family," he disclosed wistfully, never taking his eyes off of the stars.

Ichigo rolled over and kissed him on the jaw, earning a start of surprise from the taicho. Tōshirō titled his head so that their eyes were inches away from one another, their noses almost touching, their breaths sweeping against each other's lips, and Ichigo beamed at him longingly.

"I am with family," he said a matter-of-factually. _I love you, ya know._

Tōshirō studied him carefully. "Idiot," he eventually sighed, returning his gaze upwards. _Don't make me say it._

Ichigo chuckled and made himself comfortable. He had a feeling they were going to be there for a while.

But he didn't mind.

* * *

**End Notes:** Thanks for reading!


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